“I'm teaching it to her.”

“I see.”

“I will be home for dinner, of course. You—you don't need me for anything, do you?”

“No,” she said. Then, with a low laugh: “You may be excused for the day, my son.”

“What's wrong?” he demanded, lowering his voice.

“Wrong? Nothing is wrong. Everything seems right to me. Your father and I have been discussing the trip abroad.”

“Is—is it settled?”

“Yes. We are to sail on the twenty-fifth—in ten days.”

“Settled, eh?”

“Yes.”